Warning: This article contains details that may be disturbing and triggering to readers.
Closing arguments in the trial of an Alliston, Ont. man accused of plotting the murder of his ex-wife were heard Wednesday in a Barrie courtroom.
Deniz Sarikaya told court there was “no reliable evidence” Ahmet Duzguner, 54, ever threatened to kill the mother of his children, Sibel, who was found dead inside her car four years ago while leaving for work.
The four-week trial before Justice Joseph Di Luca heard from several witnesses called by the Crown. The defence rejected claims by witnesses that Sibel had told them Ahmet wanted to kill her and that she feared for her safety in the weeks prior to her death.
The court heard wiretapped recordings and reviewed 1,500 text messages between Ahmet and his daughter. The Crown told the court Ahmet wanted his wife dead for bringing shame and embarrassment to him by being with another man. Police revealed Sibel had plans to re-marry a man in Türkiye.
At about 6:25 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2022, Sibel left her home along Kidd Crescent in Alliston when she was gunned down on her driveway. A man was seen getting out of a grey Volkswagen Jetta and firing several shots from the driver-side window execution style.
“She deserved it,” Duzguner later told his daughter in one conversation. Duzguner said Sibel “deserved to be paralyzed” because of her actions and that he would have taken care of her. His daughter asked her father about whether he hired and paid hitmen $15,000 to kill her mother.
“Do not talk about that, oh God,” he replied. “My girl, I did not do anything,” Duzguner insisted. The Crown argued Duzguner was deflecting and re-directing the conversation when his daughter asked him about his potential involvement in Sibel’s killing.
Ahmet told his daughter that Sibel had effectively “ended his life” and “insulted his manhood” by leaving him for another man. The defence pointed out to the court that Ahmet did not admit to ordering his ex-wife’s murder in the wiretapped conversations or text messages with his daughter.
“I did not hire. It has nothing to do with me,” he told his daughter. When pressed to explain himself, Duzguner said he did not know “the killers” and they did not know him. The Crown said Duzguner was obsessed with Sibel and followed her. Witnesses testified Sibel told them Ahmet gave her an ultimatum that she leave her children and house to him and return to Türkiye. Sibel, the court heard, did not want to leave her children behind.
The Crown said Ahmet then lectured his daughter on the dire consequences of cheating on her husband. The court heard of growing animosity in the home between Sibel and her daughter and tensions involving Sibel’s plans to re-marry.
Sarikaya said that his client never met or exchanged money with Sibel’s killer. “There is just no evidence whatsoever linking him to this murder.”
“There is no doubt that Mr. Duzguner has animosity toward Sibel,” his lawyer argued, while admitting Duzguner was obsessive about Sibel. But “Being obsessive is not the same as planning a murder,” Sarikaya told the court.
The Crown told the court Duzguner was seen on surveillance videos driving the red Honda Civic he had bought for his daughter, circling the neighbourhood 24 hours prior to Sibel’s murder. The defence said that Duzguner was never seen meeting or speaking with anyone in the grey Volkswagen Jetta. Both vehicles were recorded on several cameras in the area minutes apart in the hours and moments surrounding the shooting. Duzguner was arrested two years later and charged by provincial police with first-degree murder. He remains behind bars.
The Crown called Sibel’s murder “well-planned” and “well orchestrated,” arguing Duzguner had enough of his wife cheating on him. Police have not located or identified the gunman.
Justice Di Luca is scheduled to deliver his judgment in December.
